Chasing Big Ben (on a mission from Fog)
March 11th 2008 03:48
The Tower of Big Ben, at the north-eastern edge of the British Houses of Parliament, on the bank of the Thames at Westminster Bridge, is a dominant point in the London skyline. Magnificent at night, majestic by day, against grey skies or blue, It has become a symbol of the city and of all things British.
The gothic revival tower was designed by Augustus Pugin for architect Charles Barry’s rebuild of the Palace of Westminster, which had been destroyed by fire in 1834. The stone-clad, brick structure is topped with a framed spire of cast iron. The clock faces and gilded dials, also designed by Pugin, are set in a 7 metre frame and covered with 312 pieces of opal glass. Gilded inscriptions at the bas e of the clock-face read “Domine salvat fac reginam nostram Victoriam Primam” “God save Victoria the first, our Queen”
The clock’s mechanism was designed by lawyer and amateur horologist, Edmund Beckett Deniston. It is famously reliable, ticking its way even through the Blitz without missing a beat. The only major breakdown occurred on August 5, 1976, due to metal fatigue, which put the clock out of action until May 9, 1977.
The name Big Ben, now applied indiscrimately and erroneously, according to the stcklers, to the tower and the clock, comes in fact from the largest of its bells. Officially, and appropriately, known as the Great Bell, it weighs 14.5 tonnes and was cast by Warners of Cripplegate, in their Stockton-on-Keys foundry on August 10, 1856. One school of thought is that the bell was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works at the time and a gentleman of quite generous proportions. Another is that it takes its name from the contemporary heavyweight boxer, Benjamin Caunt.
Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. It is reputedly the most reliable and is probably the most famous. It is the certainly the arbiter of British time; it rings in every New Year; its chimes echo up and down the Thames, marking the time for the people who live and work within earshot; they echo through radios across the nation and millions of timepieces tick to its beat.
It is possible to tour the tower and see the great clock and its bells from the inside but only by prior arrangement. UK residents can arrange a visit by writing to their MPs and overseas visitors can request a tour by writing, 3 months in advance, to;
Clock Tower Tours,
1 Parliamentary Works services Directorate,
1 Canon Row,
London,
SW1A 2JN
Big Ben against the winter sky
The gothic revival tower was designed by Augustus Pugin for architect Charles Barry’s rebuild of the Palace of Westminster, which had been destroyed by fire in 1834. The stone-clad, brick structure is topped with a framed spire of cast iron. The clock faces and gilded dials, also designed by Pugin, are set in a 7 metre frame and covered with 312 pieces of opal glass. Gilded inscriptions at the bas e of the clock-face read “Domine salvat fac reginam nostram Victoriam Primam” “God save Victoria the first, our Queen”
Big Ben in summer
The clock’s mechanism was designed by lawyer and amateur horologist, Edmund Beckett Deniston. It is famously reliable, ticking its way even through the Blitz without missing a beat. The only major breakdown occurred on August 5, 1976, due to metal fatigue, which put the clock out of action until May 9, 1977.
The name Big Ben, now applied indiscrimately and erroneously, according to the stcklers, to the tower and the clock, comes in fact from the largest of its bells. Officially, and appropriately, known as the Great Bell, it weighs 14.5 tonnes and was cast by Warners of Cripplegate, in their Stockton-on-Keys foundry on August 10, 1856. One school of thought is that the bell was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works at the time and a gentleman of quite generous proportions. Another is that it takes its name from the contemporary heavyweight boxer, Benjamin Caunt.
Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. It is reputedly the most reliable and is probably the most famous. It is the certainly the arbiter of British time; it rings in every New Year; its chimes echo up and down the Thames, marking the time for the people who live and work within earshot; they echo through radios across the nation and millions of timepieces tick to its beat.
It is possible to tour the tower and see the great clock and its bells from the inside but only by prior arrangement. UK residents can arrange a visit by writing to their MPs and overseas visitors can request a tour by writing, 3 months in advance, to;
Clock Tower Tours,
1 Parliamentary Works services Directorate,
1 Canon Row,
London,
SW1A 2JN
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Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
By the way...what happened to the photo of your hand patting the base of his tower for me huh?
Anyhoo, tanx...sigh...I think it would be marvellous living within ear shot of old Big Ben, unless you were a shift worker of course!!
cheers
fog
Comment by Patricia
Travel Stripe
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
no no no!!...didn't mean go inside and pat the bell or anything! Sorry, no, just if you had been walking by on the footpath, give the tower's base a pat, that was all!
I will have to suggest soemthing else now....ummm....
cheers
fog